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Toddlers waddled into the Menlo-Atherton Cooperative Nursery School one-by-one on a recent Friday, clutching colorful bouquets half their size to present to director Kristy Roos-Taylor for teacher appreciation day.
The nursery school has been serving local families since 1951, and is celebrating its 75th anniversary in May. Roos-Taylor has worked at the nursery for 27 years, and said it’s been incredibly fulfilling when parents tell her “how the co-op changed their lives, changed their families, changed the way they would have parented … in a much more positive way.”
After the children settled in, they spread out across the classroom to choose their activities. A few dunked their hands in paint and started on art projects. Others clamored to the outdoor sandbox and the water station.
Students don’t learn to read or write at the co-op. Instead, they’ll play dress-up, build with blocks or climb on the playground, all of which hone fine and gross motor skills, according to Roos-Taylor.
“I have hung on very tightly to a play-based philosophy,” Roos-Taylor said, acknowledging that it isn’t the norm nowadays.
In the heart of Silicon Valley, it can be difficult to get families to buy into the nursery school’s way of teaching, according to Roos-Taylor. “Parents want more and faster and better, and they want their young child to be reading before they’re developmentally ready,” she said.
Roos-Taylor stressed that preschool children learn how to socialize and make friends through play. The school prioritizes modeling how kids should engage with each other and overcome conflict.
Menlo-Atherton Cooperative Nursery School director and teacher Kristy Roos-Taylor calls on students during their Pre-K class at the school on April 16. Photo by Seeger Gray. 
Students at Menlo-Atherton Cooperative Nursery School look at a tub full of silkworms. Roos-Taylor says she uses silkworms to teach preschoolers about life cycles. Photo by Seeger Gray. 
Pre-K students put away their bikes before class at Menlo-Atherton Cooperative Nursery School in Menlo Park on April 16, 2026. Photo by Seeger Gray.
Jennifer Clarke said the co-op’s play-based learning has been invaluable for her 4-year-old son Caleb’s social and emotional development. He says, “everybody plays,” when he doesn’t feel included, and uses his words instead of getting physical when he’s upset, she said.
“I know that my kid is going to go into school able to learn because he’s emotionally ready,” Clarke said. “He’s not going to go in there knowing how to read, but he’s going to go in there with the tools on how to interact so that he can focus on learning.”
The co-op’s teachings don’t end with the toddlers — parents are required to attend monthly classes that cover a range of topics, like screen time, managing temper tantrums and learning how marriages affect children.
“We’re not just there for the kids. We’re there for the parents, too. It’s about the family,” Roos-Taylor said.
75 years after the school’s founding, its primary principle of active parental involvement has withstood the test of time. Parents help by working one day a week in the classroom and serving on committees.
Many parents in Friday’s class said they welcomed the opportunity to engage with their children at school.
“You just never get this time again, why not spend as much time if you’re able to, to be with your child and seeing them grow and be involved?” said Jay Lee, father of 2-year-old Noemi.
When the co-op was founded in the 1950s, many of the mothers were stay-at-home parents. Since then, the Bay Area’s high cost of living has made a dual-income household the norm, and the school’s sizable requirement for volunteer hours can prevent some families from enrolling.
Co-op mom and alumna Hillary Sinnott, thinks the school is worth the sacrifice. “I work and so it’s not necessarily super simple for me to come do a co-op … but I do,” Sinnott said. “I’ve never had to wrestle my kid to get him to go to school,” she said. “He loves it here.”
The heavy time commitment produces a tight-knit support system among parents. Joanna Rasch, a mother of a 2-year-old boy, said parents send meals to pregnant moms and sick parents. “It’s an amazing community,” she said. “People are friends for life.”
Roos-Taylor spoke of alumni families who still travel together or go on joint camping trips after their kids have left the program.
For the first time, alumni, current families and teachers will come together on May 16 to celebrate the school’s decades-long impact in the Menlo-Atherton community. As the preschool’s 75th year nears, its motto rings true: “You can’t keep a good school down.”
